Ripples
by NaijaChiqa
Summary: SethRyan... Seth takes a peek. One shot. SLASH


A/N: I never in a million years thought I'd write slash, but this one-shot came to me. 

Rating: R... there's actually no active sexuality but just to be on the safe side... 

Disclaimer: I don't own The O.C. or any of the characters in this story.

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He hung up the phone and ran out to the pool house. Summer had said one of those things that he just _had _to share with Ryan. It was odd, but lately, Seth had found that he'd become very dependent on him. Sometimes, he didn't feel okay with any decisions till he ran them by Ryan. He'd always cared about his parents' opinions but he suspected that Ryan's had managed to edge them out. It was strange but he liked it.

He knocked at the door but got no response. He turned the handle and wasn't surprised to find it unlocked. Ryan had gone from almost bolting his door to sometimes leaving it ajar the entire night. It pleased him to see that he'd not only settled in his new environment but also felt comfortable... even safe. 

Even though he saw an empty room when he stepped in, Seth didn't have to wonder where he was - he could hear the sounds of the water falling steadily on the shower floor. As he laid down on the bed, he wondered when last Ryan had changed the sheets- he could smell him all over them. _Luckily, he doesn't have a pungent odor, otherwise I'd have had to kill myself_. He grabbed a blanket and turned on the television.

He tried to find something to watch but was distracted by the hot, powder fresh scented steam flowing from the bathroom. He got off the bed to shut the door. As he stretched to pull it in, he noticed that Ryan was doing a little dance as he showered. He'd always hated the transparent glass shower doors that his mother had installed all over the house but at that moment, he could kiss her - how else would he have seen Ryan like that? Seth giggled to himself. No matter how much he tried to deny it, Ryan could be quite dorky. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his camera phone. He was already smiling at the thought of his friend's face turning beet-root red when he whipped out the picture at the most inopportune time. 

Seth put up the camera and steadied his hand to click it. Then Ryan stopped moving. He stood still as he let the water flow from this head down to his body. Seth leaned on the door frame and just studied him - he'd begun to experience that slight stirring in his groin that only seemed to occur whenever Ryan came a little too close or looked at him a little too intensely. His eyes traveled from his neck to his perfectly toned back down to his buttocks. Seth had never been much of a butt man but he knew magnificence when he saw it. Growing up as an only child who hated team sports, Seth had seen very few naked men. He shuddered at the memory of the time he walked in on his father getting changed in that very room when it was still, well, the pool house. It was ironic that it was the scene of his next significant observation of the male physique. 

Seth noted how a large muscle responded to seemingly insignificant steps he made. Seth tried to tear his eyes away from it but he couldn't. As a self proclaimed breast man, he couldn't understand what was going on. After all, breasts were the most superficial thing he loved about Summer .

Seth kept staring at every clench or twitch it appeared to make. And was it sick that he wished he could bury his tongue in the two quite large dimples that seemed to contract unaided? And what was even crazier was that as he stood there letting his eyes travel down to the well defined thighs, his feelings for Summer didn't diminish. It didn't make much sense. If anything, she was the anti-Ryan, all small, curvy and feminine, while he was all broad, angular and well, masculine. Seth wasn't sure but could he possibly want them both? _No, that's disgusting, I'm not a greedy guy_. Besides, what would his father say? It was against every principle he had been raised with. Then he smiled to himself and realized something - it wasn't his fault, the Nichol gene --that must skip a generation-- had finally kicked in; his grandfather would be so proud.

When Ryan made what appeared to be a sudden movement and raised his arm to rinse his armpit, Seth remembered the phone in his hand and put it back into his pocket. He heard him let out a satisfied moan as the obviously scalding water met with his chest. For the first time in his life, Seth could honestly say that he was jealous of nature's multi-purpose tool. To be the drops pouring forcefully out of that showerhead... Seth's legs appeared to have become permanently rooted to the floor as he became immersed in his fantasy. 

Ryan twisted the knob then turned around and smiled at him

"I'm glad you're here... could you do something for me?"

Seth's breathing slowed as panic slowly set in. At that moment, with everything, least of all, the tightness in his pants, he knew what would happen. _Please, don't ask for that, please don't, because I can't refuse you. Don't make me touch you_. His life had only just begun to make sense and he wasn't ready to deal the tailspin it would definitely spend him in. No, he just couldn't. 

Seth tried his best to make sure that his eyes didn't stray from his expectant face, but he lost the battle and stole a swift glance. He tried to convince himself that it was more about male ego than anything else, but there are only so many lies one can tell oneself. It didn't look much different from the few others he'd seen. In fact, it was much like his ... but not quite. He couldn't put a finger on what made it different, it just seemed a little more _confident_, if that made any sense. Seth couldn't figure out why he suddenly found that section of Ryan's anatomy interesting but he willed himself to snap out of it.

"Any day now?" Ryan said, frowning at him.

"What?" he blinked.

"My towel? I thought I was going to have to endure another lecture on how the water's supposed to stay _in _the shower."

"Oh." Seth reached for it and handed it to him. 

"Thanks."

With every stroke of the towel, Seth felt his pants get fuller. They were one of his loosest pairs, but at the rate it was going, he knew it wouldn't take long before the fabric betrayed his secret. He quickly walked back into the room, sat on a chair and picked up the racing magazine that had been laying by the bed. He followed shortly after so Seth just did his best to find the article about engines interesting just so that he wouldn't have to think about what was happening less than 10 feet away from him.

"So... what's up?" Ryan asked. 

Seth looked at him and observed that he was wearing boxers and nothing else - not even one of the wife beaters that seemed sewn on his skin. How was he supposed to remember his reason for coming over if he remained like that?

"Dude, don't you have pajamas? You could be thoughtful and spare my eyes, you know?"

"I'm about to sleep. You should be happy I am wearing this much -I normally don't wear anything." _Too much information_. 

Seth didn't even attempt to think of the implications of that statement and quickly delved into conversation.

"Well, Summer said the cutest thing and I know you just want hear all about it."

Ryan groaned and rolled his eyes. "You understand that someday you are going to have to realize that I don't find these stories nearly as interesting as you do."

Seth smiled, this side of Ryan he could handle. "Yep. But not today."


End file.
